From hotel rooms to school sidewalks—What will the courts say about Gideon Bibles in Plano schools?

Get Hiram Sasser’s legal take on the issue…   

 

Are Pastors Silenced from Politics?

Certainly no one would agree that a Pastor loses his rights to citizenship, his ability to vote, his political voice, or even a duty of civic action simply because of his profession.  Yet, certain religiously-hostile groups like the Americans United for Separation of Church and State are trying to silence all Pastors from taking part in the 2008 elections.  One particular Houston conflict is strikingly ironic—in a twist of fate, Free Market’s legal group turned the tables on anti-Christian hecklers, and filed an IRS complaint against the Americans United for Separation of Church and State for interfering in politics.  As opposed to pastors endorsing candidates and being involved in politics on a personal level—the non-profit activity actually is legitimately against the law.  No word from the IRS on either side…but you’ll see from the video clip it’s clear who won the PR war.

 

A PHD in Odessa: Professor Silences Critics on Bible Courses

Friday Night Lights brings Odessa to mind, but you’ll have to conjure up images of an OSU Professor teaching Bible to the crowd to keep up with the latest news.  In fact, after Dr. Duke Pesta’s persuasive case for teaching Bible curriculum last Wednesday, any advocacy for these Bible courses could be preaching to the choir.  Just CHECK OUT KWES’s take on the University Professor’s presentation and you’ll know Free Market’s most recent attempt to allow teaching the history and literature of the world’s #1 bestseller of all time was a huge success.  Professors from Yale, Harvard and Stanford agree with Pesta—barring students from studying the Bible academically only increases the next generation’s cultural ignorance (if you haven’t noticed, it’s not up to par).  Pretty soon Odessa will be known for its brawn and brains—football and academic excellence in West Texas. 

 

Can You Express Your Faith In Public School?

Experts Kelly Shackelford, Jonathan Saenz and Kelly Coghlan seen here informing Houston students of their religious liberties. 

Check out the slide of one case between the Katy ISD School District and a number of public school families. 

 

Do teachers really believe religious valentines aren’t permitted or is it blatant prejudice? 

 If you haven’t read it—or you don’t believe it, take a look at Free Market’s Hostility to Religious Freedom: The Case Today

Bible in Schools: Let Freedom Ring

In almost 40 states and over 400 school districts in the U.S., including Texas, an elective bible course is being taught in public schools.  This seriously irritates local opinion writers and the ACLU, who want to ban your Texas kids from the freedom to choose an elective bible course in school.  That’s right, these courses are electives.  The only students taking a bible course will be those who choose to–no one else, period.   If you read the recent editorial, “Bible class a recipe…”, you owe it to yourself to keep reading.  It’s a shame that local and national intolerant groups, and other wolves in extreme leftwing clothing, want to restrict academic freedom and deprive schools of a huge opportunity to excel.  During the legislative session, one University of Texas professor testified that the taking of an elective course in the history and literature of the bible by a student is the “single greatest thing to do to increase college preparedness.”  Professors from Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Rice, and Texas A & M, also believe knowledge of the bible equals a huge educational advantage.  Why, you ask?  The works of Shakespeare have more than 1300 biblical references, and more than 60% of the allusions recommended for study for the AP Literature and Composition exam are from the bible.  Additionally, people of various religious and nonreligious backgrounds have given their support for these types of courses.  The U.S. Supreme Court itself has said emphatically for the past 40+ years that “the Bible is worthy of study for its literary and historic qualities.”  We hope you were not misled by the ‘legal opinions’ of an SMU biblical studies professor who is not an attorney (and other pundits with no legal training). The Professor’s survey of Texas Bible courses, although paraded as constitutional law, was in fact a subjective test funded by a liberal Austin group dedicated to religious censorship.  To see evidence of this settled area of law, look no further than the Ector County (Odessa, Texas) case, the only lawsuit in 70+ years regarding a bible course in Texas public schools.  The ACLU sued and wanted to prevent kids in a public school from choosing to read out of the Bible.  Remember this is the same out-of-touch group, the ACLU, which protects pornography online in public school libraries.  Let’s see, pornography in schools, yes, bible, no?  Bizarre.  It’s a shame they had to bring their New York lawyers to Texas, only to give up and settle the case, agreeing to let the school district have a bible class where the bible is the main textbook of the course.  How much did this case cost the Ector County School District?  Zero.  We defended the school district for free and we’ll do it again if necessary, in the name of academic and religious freedom.  We applaud the unified leadership of the State Board of Education, who voted 13-2 to approve such a course, and the bipartisan Texas Legislature in the House and Senate who voted 167-3 for elective bible courses.  Both votes are examples of representative government at its best.  It’s a shame that those with little or no training and experience in these important areas of law and policy want to take away your choice.  Our Texas children deserve better.

 Jonathan Saenz, Director of Legislative Affairs and Attorney, Free Market Foundation

Check It Out!

SPEECHLESS: SILENCING THE CHRISTIANS

Take a look at these videos…they are shocking, true and worth the time. 

www.silencingchristians.com

Free Market Sues City of Plano for Preventing Pastor from using Council Chambers on National Day of Prayer

“No government may discriminate against religious expression and favor one religious group over another because the government disagrees with an exclusive Judeo-Christian message,” said Hiram Sasser, Director of Litigation for Liberty Legal Institute, the law firm representing Pastor Frady.

Pastor Frady of Willowcreek Fellowship every year wakes up early to be the first in line to reserve the Council Chambers for a National Day of Prayer event that Dallas area pastors hold each May.  City rules say a citizen can request to reserve the room 90 days out from the event, and since Pastor Frady was the only one to submit a request—you would think his would be honored. 

Sadly, the City of Plano decided that it does not like a Judeo-Christian event being held in its facilities each year, and so it decided to bypass the 90 day protocol and just endorse its own 2008 National Day of Prayer event, organized by the Multi-Cultural Outreach Committee of Plano.  What happened to religious freedom and tolerance?  The same City that months ago decided to overturn bricks with crosses on them into the dirt, has now schemed to discriminate against a Christian event.  Let’s see if this debacle gets cleaned up as quickly as the bricks! 

A Meeting of Minds:

Kelly Joins Religious Freedom Advocates from ADF to Discuss Upcoming Battles in 2008. (Enduring a grueling weekend in sunny Arizona) 

Pictured:  Kelly Shackelford, Alan Sears (ADF), Clark Forsythe (Americans United for Life), Greg Baylor (Christian Legal Society), Mike Whitehead (Counsel, Widmar v. Vincent case), and Brett Harvey (ADF)

Victory! Odessa school district will continue teaching Bible curriculum

During the ECISD (Ector County ISD) 12:00 noon board meeting today in Odessa, Texas, it was decided that the ACLU’s attack will not stand. The school district will continue teaching Bible courses with a curriculum developed and monitored by ECISD that will utilize the Bible as the primary course textbook. This is a great victory against the ACLU and People for the American Way – who filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the school district back in May 2007 for teaching classes on the Bible’s history and literature. We want to express our great thanks to Mediator Hesha Abrams for fostering this agreement. Click here for our press release.

This is a great victory for ECISD and the community.  ECISD will continue to offer a Bible course, it will be a curriculum of its own choosing, it may use portions of any existing curriculum as a resource, and the Bible will be the main textbook for the course.

Thanks to all of you who prayed for and donated toward this case. We couldn’t have done it without you!

    

City of Duncanville Allows Church to Move Into Its Building!

We are currently celebrating with Pastor Ramos and the members of Templo Bautista Nueva Jerusalen over a City Council vote last night in Duncanville.  The City Council previously denied Templo Bautista their utilities permit because one woman opposed the church in her neighborhood.  After applying legal and media pressure, the City Council voted unanimously to change its vote! 

Ana Candido, church administrator, states:

I truly believe that God places people in our lives with a specific purpose, and I know that God placed Free Market in our path to lead us to this victory.  Last month I walked out of the City Council meeting devastated and defeated. I was ready to put the building for sale and felt there was nothing we could do, but the minute I called Free Market, Hiram immediately uplifted my spirit, with his knowledge, and experience he assured me that this was an easy battle, and that we would have our building. I trust God, and know that God has given us the victory.  I am extremely grateful for the to the Free Market staff.  Thank you for your hard work, dedication, and support, there is no way we could have achieved this victory without you!!!!!